Many things had been resolved and yet, many things were still unfinished. However, a necessary vacation had been declared.
Hans didn't quite understand it, but the young master had muttered something about being unable to rest while the others were wandering around. He wasn't sure if it was related to the burden of leadership…or the vast property damage that followed various members around.
The world tree was where they decided to stay. Raon, Ohn, and Hong had wanted to play with snow and no one objected.
Ron opened the door to their villa and yet, didn't step inside. He had several magic bags of supplies on his belt, as well as knives.
Hans waited for a bit, then peeked over Ron's shoulder.
The two Henituse butlers stared down the creature in the foyer. They looked down and it looked up.
The creature was a member of the Penguin Tribe. Its feathers were well combed, and it bowed as they came in.
"The elves are quite generous to lend us a butler." Ron's expression was not a smile—it was just weathered skin stretched out, not meeting his eyes.
"Oh, good sir, it is not just me, Happy." The penguin sounded male, a low voice with a noble quality. "A few of my colleagues will be serving your group as well. I'll be acting as the villa's head butler. Cale Henituse and his people are very welcome here."
"Wonderful," Cale said. He had come up from behind Ron and Hans. The bags under his eyes were dark. In his arms were the soaked cats and dragon.
Ron's expression did not agree.
Hans took the children and went upstairs to run a bath. He waited through their complaints and smiled at how they said they liked the powdered snow.
When Hans passed by the kitchen, he could see through the half open door. Vicross was engaged in a fierce culinary battle with…a sea lion. They were making sushi at an alarming rate.
Cale was passed out in the parlor. The others around him, such as Choi Han, Lily Henituse, and Bud spoke quietly. The parlor was furnished similar to the rest of the house, rich wooden furniture with various styles of carvings from the elves.
Hans put the children down on the couch next to Cale. He noticed how Icy, another penguin butler, coaxed them to try the sushi they brought in the room from the kitchen. He had no reason to object and nothing to offer in replacement; regardless, it left a bit of a sour taste in his mouth as he watched.
Ron approached the parlor with a tray of lemon tea. He saw Happy, the head penguin butler, enter with a tray—he moved closer and watched through the sliver of the open door.
Cale woke up briefly, fished around on the table for the tea cup, drank some, complimented it, and fell asleep.
The young master still disliked sour things.
Ron concluded that it made sense.
However…that didn't mean he liked it. Ron very much did not enjoy the feeling of being infringed upon. In his past, such a feeling of being threatened would result in violent repercussions. It was in his nature to act as such, but not his position.
Hans stepped outside. He shut the door to the parlor. "What did you make?"
"Lemon tea," Ron curtly responded.
"Ah." Hans clasped his hands together and leaned forward. That silly smile, a bit foolish, was curling over his lips. "I can see."
The two Henituse butlers locked eyes and nodded at each other.
This was a problem.
"I think we should handle our respective competition," Ron proposed. He wasn't scared of losing.
Hans nodded. "I do not doubt my abilities as a butler."
Ron's pride was too strong. Hans had quite a lot of optimism. They couldn't let themselves be outperformed or abandoned. If they had fear of such loss, they both hid it well.
They parted ways and went to start preparations for the night.
It was late and everyone slept.
Cale woke up even later and tumbled into his bed—Ron had checked to make sure that Cale actually went to sleep in a proper bed. There were many times that the young master slept in chairs or on couches and suffered from strained muscles and aches after.
The next morning, most awoke to a mountain of various breakfast foods. Vicross and the sea lion were still at it. The chefs worked quietly even as they customized omelettes and pancakes.
Hans made the drinks and averted a competition between Ron and Happy, although he was pretty sure they were sizing each other up as the two senior butlers commented on his hot chocolate. He was glad that reviews were not too harsh.
Alver had arrived this morning, accompanied by some of his kin who were interested in seeing a place so different from the desert. The Dark Elves got along surprisingly well with the Wolf Tribe; they were outside playing in the snow before anyone else that day
Hans bundled Ohn and Hong into coats and snow boots. He was happy with his choices. "You're so cute." He pet their heads and was careful not to mess up their hair, as the young master had brushed it this morning.
Raon floated a bit lower. He didn't look upset, but he was definitely fishing for compliments.
"Of course, Raon was cute as well," Hans assured.
Raon's wings fluttered a bit. "I am a great and mighty dragon. I am not cute."
Hans smiled. "Of course." The way the baby dragon reacted to compliments was also very cute. He was very glad that the young master had been kind enough to take the children in.
The young master Cale came down late. The children had been waiting for him; they only waited long enough for Cale to eat and then dragged him outside to play.
Hans helped clear up the table and gave the dishes to Vicross. He knew not to offer to help in the kitchen. Instead, he went up to a study room and pulled out some files.
The study room was full of old reference books, likely so out of date due to being elf in origin. Said books were perfectly preserved with magic. In that sense, it was a rare treasure that Hans had little time to read through and learn about past centuries.
Hans paused about an hour later and looked out the wide window behind the desk.
Cale was teaching the children to make snow angels.
Choi Han, Rosalyn, and Lock were in a snowball fight. Casualties of snowballs included Bud.
Alver disliked the cold, but had been guilt tripped into playing outside by Lily and Bassen Henituse. According to them, Alver being Cale's older brother meant that he was—of some sorts—Lily's and Bassen's older brother as well.
The Dark Elves and Wolf Tribe, as well as a few trusted knights, were collaborating on a large snow elf, snowman, and snow wolf creation. The only real difference for the snow elf was sticks to make the ears of the snowman 'pointy'.
Hans heard movement. He looked back to the documents on the desk in front of him.
There was a penguin lying on his desk. It was Icy. She had brought a plate of food.
Hans picked up a hot cookie, likely straight from the oven. "Hello?" He tilted his head.
"I took the liberty of recopying the expenses of your trip, because your copy was damaged." Icy used her wing to point.
The document had water magic spilled on it during the trip here.
"Thank you."
"I can recopy this one as well." Icy moved onto her feet.
Hans was a bit shocked, but he smiled. He picked up all the water damaged documents from the pile. Nothing was important, because he wouldn't have brought any important information to a strange place. "We can split it."
Icy clicked her beak. There was an interest, a challenge, in her beady black eyes.
"Go," Hans said.
They put pen to paper—the difference was one was held by a human hand and one was held by a beak.
Meanwhile, Ron and Happy were in the parlor.
Tea making was an art. It took precision and dedication to brew the perfect version. Temperature and time could radically change results. An overpowering taste could result unintentionally, or something too watery and bland to count as tea.
This was something Ron and Happy agreed upon, as experienced butlers. Unfortunately…they could not agree on what teas to offer for lunch.
"Jasmine has a more distinct flavor and memory to it. I have never had a whale turn it down," Happy stated.
Ron put his hands behind his back. He was secretly quite excited at the opportunity. There was no way he would be upstaged. "Oolong would suit the young master's tastes better. Let's brew our teas how we want and let him decide."
"Deal." Happy loudly clacked his beak shut.
Back in the study, Hans and Icy had come to a mutual appreciation. They had both worked quickly and corrected small mistakes.
Icy flopped onto her stomach, avoiding the still wet ink. "Would you like to do the laundry together?"
"I'd be glad to." Hans tucked his gloves into his pocket and started rolling up his sleeves.
After a moment, they both sprinted towards the door and down the hall towards the laundry room. It was when they passed by the parlor that things turned serious.
Happy, head butler for the villa, had garnished his jasmine tea with an anchovy. This was popular with his tribe, but not with humans.
Ron picked up forks at the sight of this abomination. The younger butlers, Hans and Icy, moved to support their respective seniors. This escalated to an actual fight, with the weapons being utensils.
Forks and knives were flung. At some point, even spoons were being used as projectiles.
Wood was dented.
Knives, forks, and spoons clattered to the floor.
The noise was quite substantial, despite the lack of yelling.
In the midst of this chaos, Ron heard footsteps and chatter—there were various people approaching the front door. He immediately placed his utensils back into the drawers.
Hans gasped.
Icy cursed.
Happy froze for a few moments.
There was a hurried rush as fallen utensils were gathered up, thrown towards Ron, and returned. The utensils would need to be cleaned, but the parlor's wouldn't be used for lunch anyways.
When Cale, various children, and others came inside, they walked past the open parlor door. The four butlers were drinking tea together and looked harmonious.
"Hans, Ron, do you want to go outside?" Ohn asked.
Hong nodded. He looked somewhat concerned. "Are you bored?"
Cale walked in and poured himself a cup of tea. He made an obvious choice to avoid the anchovy.
"Thank you, but no." Ron could tell he was smiling a bit too much. "Lunch will be served in the dining room."
Lunch happened quickly, as most wished to go back outside in the snow.
The Henituse staff took a break. Hans shook Icy's wing before he went outside. Ron nodded towards Happy. Vicross was dragged out of the kitchen by the Wolf Tribe; they were quite attached to their stoic babysitter.
Cale's footsteps were loud, crunching through the layers of snow.
Ron was watching his son. Hans watched the children. The two butlers were keeping their attention on Cale in the corner of their eyes.
Cale's gaze wandered around, observing everyone. "I asked the world tree for the Penguin Tribe. This vacation was supposed to be for you as well."
Ron stayed silent. His expression flickered to surprise.
Hans smiled. "Thank you, young master."
A/N
This is my fic for the LCFZine2022. Please check out this link, where you can download this sfw zine for free. .io/family-record
I had a lot of fun writing this fic and working as a mod. Shout out to pearl (umichi pearl) for help coming up with this fanfic idea.
-Silver